Lubricated gate valve



Feb. 4-, 1941. c. A. OLSON 4 LUBRICATED GATE VALVE Filed June 9, 1938 3Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 4, 1941. c. A. OLSON LUBRIGATED GATE VALVE FiledJune 9', 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 4, 1941. v c. A. OLSON 2,230,600

LUBRICATED GATE VALVE Filed June 9, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 iarfias J50450M:

Patented Feb. 4, 1941 PATENT OFFICE 2,230,000 wmucs'rsn GATE VALVECharles A. Olson, Geneva, Ill., assignor to Crane 00., Chicago, 111., acorporation of Illinois Application June 9, 1938, Serial No. 212,708

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a type of valve, known to those skilled in theart as a conduit type valve, in which the closure member in the openposition does not expose the valve seating surfaces to contact with thefluid controlled by the valve, and in which the closure member isencased in a chamber completely filled with a lubricant.

An important object of my invention is to provide a-valve in which themovement of the closure member sloshes the lubricant from the lowerportion to the upper portion of the chamber enclosed in the valve, andconversely, from the upper portion to the lower portion of the saidchamber depending upon, and opposite to, the

direction of the movement of the closure member thereby supplying freshlubricant to the moving parts and contact surfaces which are otherwisesubject to considerable wear during normal operation.

so Another object of my invention lies in the provision for easilyinstalled guides and seats for the closure member, the said guidesrestricting the closure member movement the entire lengthof its travelfrom the full open position 25 to the shut-off or closed position.

Another important object of my invention is to provide in the closuremember certain spring loaded closure parts which bear respectivelyagainst the up-stream (inlet) side and the down- 30 stream (outlet) sidevalve seats.

- Another object of my invention lies in the provision for lubricatingand sealing grooves in the closure member on the surfaces which are insliding contact with cooperating surfaces of 35 the previously mentionedguides.

Another object is to provide a valve of the gate type which is easilyoperable in all positions between the full open and the shut-off, andsaid valve when full open presents a substantially 4o smooth andunbroken passageway for the'fluid controlled by the said valve.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter as thedescription proceeds in connection with the drawings.

45 Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side view disclosing a preferred embodiment of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional end view which shows the external shape of theclosure member.

50 Fig. 3 is a partly sectional plan view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar 55 parts throughout thevarious views.

Referring to Fig. 1, I form a valve body or casing I having a fluidpassageway 2 therethrough and a central chamber 3 encasing the closuremember 4. At each end of the passageway 2, connecting flanges 5 areprovided through 6 1 which conventional bolts (not shown) may bepressing a toroidally-shaped gasket l0 retained by co-aligning annulargrooves in the adjacent faces of the flange 6 and the bonnet 1. Throughthe bonnet l I assemble the journaling valve stem 8, the upper andexposed end of which has attached thereto the handwheel 9 by meansof'the nut H, the other end of the stem 8 being screw threadedlyattached to the closure member 4.

The valve herein shown is of the non-rising stem type, in which by therotation of the hand- Wheel 8 the stem 8 revolves in the bonnet I, thesaid stem being restricted in axial movement by the integral collar I2which is retained within the bonnet recess i3 by the stem bushing I4being screw threaded into the said bonnet recess and being keyed by thescrew I5 to prevent acci- I dental removal. In order to prevent lineleakage past the stem bearing, a stuffing box it is formed within theupper portion of the bonnet I, the said stufling box being filled with acompressible packing l1 retained within the said stumng box by the glandi8 upon which bears the flange I9 secured to the bonnet 1 by the boltsand nuts 2| and 22 respectively, pivotally attached to the bonnet lugsor bifurcated ears 23 by means of pins 24 passed therethrough. Theforegoing description is a general one applicable to a conduit type ofgate valve.

Attention is now directed to Fig. 2 in which the closure member 4 isshown, as previously mentioned, screw threadedly attached to the stem 8which is screw threaded substantially the entire length of that portionwhich extends below the collar l2, thus upon rotative movement of thehandwheel 9 and subsequently rotating the stem 8, the closure member 4is caused to travel axially upon the said stem between the limitsbounded by the bushing 14 and the preferably integral body stop 25, thevalve body ribs 26 and 68 the guides 21, as more clearly shown in Fig.3, effectively preventing any substantial movement of the closure membertransverse to the axis of the stem 8. The closure member 4 contains in 5its lower portion the aperture or passageway 28 to which in adjacentdisposition are the annularly positioned lubricant sealing grooves 29.The upper portion of the said closure member contains the oppositelydisposed discs-3|.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the discs 3| are retained within the recesses32, which extend through the closure member 4, by contact on theoutwardly facing surfaces of the discs 3| with the inwardly facingsurfaces of the valve seats 33 and the guides 21. The inwardly facingsurfaces of the discs 3| are provided with diametrically opposed bosses34 recessed with pockets to receive the ends of the coil springs 35thereby providing spaces between the said springs 20 and the said discsto allow for the passage of the stem 8 when the closure member 4 isbeing raised to place the valve in the open position. The springs 35 arecompressed sufficiently between the discs 3| to retain the said discsnormally against their respective seats or contact surfaces. However,when the valve is in the closed position and is under a relatively highpressure, it is not expected that the said springs will maintain theup-stream disc 3| against its seat but the said disc will be forced backagainst the shoulder 36 in the cavity 32 of the closure member 4 wherebya force is exerted through the said closure member to a similar shoulder36 bearing against the down-stream disc 3|. The

discs 3| thereby cooperate to form a fluid tight valve, and it will, ofcourse, be obvious that if the direction of flow should be reversed,then the position of the down-stream disc will be correspondinglychanged.

Referring back now to Fig. 1, the tubular valve seats or seat bushings33 are preferably screw threaded into the passageway 2 in coaxialalignment therewith and pass through respective recessed apertures inthe guides 21. On the innermost ends of each of the seats 33 are flanges31 shouldering against the bottoms of the recesses 38 in the respectiveapertures in the guides 21. Thus upon screwing down each seat 33 firmly,each guide 21 will be secured into place in the chamber 3 between theseat bushing shoulder 31 and the boss 39 on the valve body in the saidchamber. The end portions of the guides 21 are braced against flexing bythe integral bars 4| in the said chamber and are braced against tumingabout the axis of the apertures by the lugs 42, the latter being moreclearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

At the lower end of the valve casing I, referring to Fig. 2. is a screwthreaded opening 43 through which a suitable lubricant may be introducedinto the chamber 3 until the latter is completely filled with thelubricant which then exudes through another screw threaded opening 44(shown in dash lines in Fig. 1) in the bonnet 1. Each of the openings 43and 44 may then be closed with suitable plugs (not shown).

Again referring to Fig. 1, the corners formed on the peripheries of thediscs 3|, the seat bushing flanges 31, the closure member cavities 32and on each guide 21 respectively, are chamfered to form the annularlubricant grooves 45 in 5 which the lubricant collects by seepagebetween the abutting surfaces of the closure member 4 and the guides 21.Upon movement of the said closure member from the closed position to theopen position, or conversely, from the open position to the closedposition, the lubricant contained in the grooves 45 and 29 will bespread upon the otherwise dry contacting surfaces of the closure memberand the guides. The holes 46 in the closure member are provided toassist further in supplying lubricant to the moving parts of the valveand particularly to that portion of the stem 8 which is inside theclosure member.

I have described by these specifications and drawings a constructionwhich is not intended to be limiting but is merely to be illustrative ofan embodiment of my invention, the scope of which is defined in thefollowing claims.

I claim: 25

1. In a valve, comprising a casing having substantially axially alignedfluid passageways, a valve chamber interposed between the saidpassageways, a closure member reciprocably movable in the said valvechamber, the said closure member having a passageway in its lowerportion, means for moving the said closure member passageway-betweenpositions in and out of registration with the said casing passageways,the said closure member having in its upper portion associated closureparts, seating members therefor, guide means Within said casing for thesaid closure member, the corners formed on the peripheries respectivelyof the said closure memher, the said closure parts and the said guidemeans being chamfered to form annularly extending lubricant grooveswhereby lubrication is provided between the abutting surfaces of thesaid closure member and the said guiding means.

2. In a valve, comprising a casing having substantially axially alignedfluid passageways, a valve chamber interposed between the saidpassageways, a closure member reciprocably movable in the said valvechamber, the said closure member having a passageway in its lowerportion, means for moving the said closure member passageway betweenpositions in and out of registration with the said casing passageways,the said closure member having in its upper portion associated closureparts, seating members therefor, guide means within said casing for thesaid closure member swivelably adjustable relative to the said seatingmembers, the adjacent corners formed on the peripheries respectively ofthe said seating members and the said guide means beon ing relieved toprovide means therebetween whereby lubrication is distributable betweenthe abutting surfaces of the said closure member and the said guidingmeans.

CHARLES A. OLSON. 65

